Hail! Bright Cecilia
Hail! Bright Cecilia (Z.328), also known as Ode to St. Cecilia, was composed by Henry Purcell to a text by the Irishman Nicholas Brady in 1692 in honour of the feast day of Saint Cecilia, patron saint of musicians.
Annual celebrations of this saint's feast day (22 November) began in 1683, organised by the Musical Society of London, a group of musicians and music lovers. Welcome to all the pleasures (Z.339) was written by Purcell in 1683 and he went on to write other Cecilian pieces of which Hail! Bright Cecilia remains the best known. The first performance on 22 September 1692 at Stationers' Hall was a great success, and received an encore.[1] It has been suggested that Purcell himself was the countertenor soloist, but this appears to be a misunderstanding of a contemporary account.
Composition
Brady's poem was derived from John Dryden's "A Song for St Cecilia's Day" of 1687. With a text full of references to musical instruments (it is suggested that Cecilia invented the
Purcell is one of several composers who have written music in honour of Cecilia.
Movements
The work consists of 13 movements.
- Symphony (overture): Introduction—Canzona—Adagio—Allegro—Grave—Allegro (repeat)
- Recitative (bass) and chorus: "Hail! Bright Cecilia"
- Duet (treble [though range would suggest alto] and bass): "Hark! hark! each tree"
- Air (countertenor): "'Tis nature's voice"
- Chorus: "Soul of the world"
- Air (soprano) and chorus: "Thou tun'st this world"
- Trio (alto, tenor and bass): "With that sublime celestial lay"
- Air (bass): "Wondrous machine!"
- Air (countertenor): "The airy violin"
- Duet (countertenor and tenor): "In vain the am'rous flute"
- Air (countertenor): "The fife and all the harmony of war"
- Duet (two basses): "Let these among themselves contest"
- Chorus: "Hail! Bright Cecilia, hail to thee"
Text
2. Hail! Bright Cecilia, Hail! fill ev'ry Heart Fir to talk begin!This in the sprightly Violin That in the Flute distinctly speaks! 'Twas Sympathy their list'ning Brethren drew, When to the Thracian Lyre with leafy Wings they flew. 4. 'Tis Natures's Voice; thro' all the moving Wood Of Creatures understood: The Universal Tongue to none Of all her num'rous Race unknown! From her it learnt the mighty Art To court the Ear or strike the Heart: At once the Passions to express and move; We hear, and straight we grieve or hate, rejoice or love: In unseen Chains it does the Fancy bind; At once it charms the Sense and captivates the Mind 5. Soul of the World! Inspir'd by thee, The jarring Seeds of Matter did agree, Thou didst the scatter'd Atoms bind, Which, by thy Laws of true proportion join'd, Made up of various Parts one perfect Harmony. 6. Thou tun'st this World below, the Spheres above, Who in the Heavenly Round to their own Music move. 7. With that sublime Celestial Lay Can any Earthly Sounds compare? If any Earthly Music dare, The noble Organ may. From Heav'n its wondrous Notes were giv'n, (Cecilia oft convers'd with Heaven,) Some Angel of the Sacred Choire Did with his Breath the Pipes inspire; And of their Notes above the just Resemblance gave, Brisk without Lightness, without Dulness Grave. |
8. Wondrous Machine! |
Publication
The work was edited for publication by Edward Francis Rimbault.
See also
References
- ^ The Gentleman's Journal, or Monthly Miscellany, November 1692, cited in Rimbault's edition, London: Musical Antiquarian Society Publications, 1848, p. 2.
- ^ a b c Hail! bright Cecilia and Who can from joy refrain? – Introduction, by Robert King, Hyperion Records, 2010
- ^ CD liner notes, Purcell: Odes & Funeral Music [CD], Virgin Classics Ltd, 7243 5 61582 2 1
- ^ http://www.musicalconcepts.net/legacy/deller/2-4-texts.html [dead link]
External links
- Hail, Bright Cecilia, Z.328: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project, including Rimbault's introduction
- A Song for St. Cecilia's Day, 1687 by John Dryden